Morrison’s high average helps USA East keep divisional lead

BREWER, Maine — It was a tough day of competition for most bowlers in Thursday’s World Team Candlepin Bowling Tourney, but one bowler kept it rolling, just as he has for the first two days.

Shawn Morrison of Bucksport continued his dominance on the lanes and raised his average to a tournament high 133 and helped his USA East team maintain first place in the 12-team Holiday Inn division. USA East is also being sparked by Massachusetts bowler Chris Sargent, who has a 127 average, and Maine native Nate Nealey’s 126 average.

USA East, a group of Maine and Massachusetts bowlers, earned 20 of the possible 24 points on Thursday and is 14 points clear of MacLaughlin Truck & Trailer of Nova Scotia, which also took 20 points on the day.

MacLaughlin’s is led by Freddie Tofflemire’s 126 average, as he helped his team move from fourth place to second by bowling a 427 series in the first match of the day.

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Third place in the division belongs to Campbellton Lions of New Brunswick by one point over 20th Century Lanes of Massachusetts.

Downtown Jewelry of Belfast started the day in seventh place and earned 12 points to move up to the fifth position. Just behind them are a couple of other Maine entries, Local Flavah, and Big 20, sitting only one and three points back, respectively, for the fifth and final playoff spot.

The final round robin competition is Friday morning.

In 12-team Pepsi division Fairlanes A+ Pelham of Nova Scotia was able to get 20 of the possible 24 points and move from third place to the top spot with a 53-19 record. Fairlanes enjoyed consistent performances from their top three bowlers: Matt Harnett of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who is averaging 126, and Matt McPhee of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Mitch Seary of Kentville, Nova Scotia who helped out with 124 averages each.

Wednesday’s leader, Lucky Strike of Massachusetts., ran into some difficult competition Thursday and only was able to attain 10 points from match play to put them in second place, while Fenway Painters, also of Massachusetts., had a productive 18-point day to solidify the third position in the division.

Extreme TNT of Massachusetts falls from second place to fourth with a 6-point day, and the next three spots are occupied by Charlestown Bank of New Hampshire in fifth and Kingswood and Woodstock Bowlacade next, both from New Brunswick.

The Pepsi division has been competitive throughout the tournament. No one team has shown control, which is creating exciting matches. The atmosphere on the lanes is becoming more tense as teams are positioning themselves for that fifth and final playoff spot.

Other top scores from the day include Brian Bernatchez of Campbellton, New Brunswick, who rolled the high single string of the day with a 170. Morrison also threw the high-3 string total for the day with a 427.

Peter Kidney of Woodstock Bowlacade in New Brunswick leads the Pepsi division with a 129.5 average pinfall per string.